# @wild_history_uk on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DXWPtFciFjA
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/64413657-wild-history-uk-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/ad8531d80f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-20T09:00:03.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Wild History Shocking Stories From the Past (@wild_history_uk) — https://gondola.cc/wild_history_uk

## Caption

This is Tommy.
He’s eight years old.
Sunderland, 1862.
Tommy worked on the rope walks — long outdoor yards where heavy hemp was twisted into thick ship’s ropes.
His job was to walk backwards feeding the hemp into giant spinning wheels.
Twelve hours a day. Six days a week.
One day the wheel jerked.
His foot caught in the spinning hemp.
The machine violently pulled him in.
The heavy ropes wrapped around his small body and crushed him against the wheel.
He died instantly.
This was official British child labour law.
Sunderland, 1862. When eight-year-old boys were crushed to death making rope. And it was legal.
Drop a heart for Tommy.
Which Victorian horror next? Comment below 👇
#VictorianChildhood #CrimesThatWereLegal #RopeMaker #ChildLabour #ThisWasLegal

## Stats

- **Views:** 1,177
- **Likes:** 154
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 7

## Tags

victorianchildhood, thiswaslegal, ropemaker, childlabour, crimesthatwerelegal

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